Nigeria rattled by more attacks on oil industry as Chevron well hit

Nigerian oil militants said they blew up another Chevron oil well Wednesday in a rejection of the government’s offer of peace talks.

The bombing comes a day after the government ordered the military to halt attacks in the oil-producing south and urged the militants to halt the bombings to allow a dialogue. But the Niger Delta Avengers said they will not negotiate.

It’s the fourth attack in as many weeks on a facility of U.S.-based oil company Chevron, which last month was forced to halt operations at its 160,000-barrel a day Escravos export terminal. The Avengers also have blown up installations of Dutch-British Shell and Italy’s Agip, halving Nigeria’s production to about 1.2 million barrels a day.

The recent assaults ended years of relative peace in the delta and have lost Nigeria its place as Africa’s biggest oil producer to Angola.
...
The militants have told all international oil companies to leave the oil-producing Niger Delta and say they want a greater share of Nigeria’s oil wealth for local communities. Oil provides 80 percent of government revenue, while pollution from production has destroyed farmlands and fishing grounds.
...

It is not clear who they expect would take the place of the international companies and to whom they would sell any oil they produced. There are plenty of alternative sources for oil in the market right now and by restricting supply from Nigeria they are actually boosting the price the alternative sources can collect. Chevron does not have this problem with its wells in the Permian Basin of Texas.

Nigeria is notoriously corrupt and the militants may be just trying to deny funds to those who profit from the sell within the Nigerian government in hopes of getting more concessions. However, the concessions they have received so far have not satisfied them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hill:
Democrats are more fearful about what 2018 holds than Republicans, according to a poll released early Monday.

The new Axios survey showed 55 percent of Democrats are more hopeful personally about the new year while 44 percent are more fearful.

Among Republicans, 90 percent are more hopeful about 2018, and just 9 percent are more fearful.

When asked about the world in general, 29 percent of Democrats said they are more hopeful, compared to 70 percent who said they are more fearful.

Pollsters found 67 percent of Republicans are more hopeful about the world in general in the new year, and 32 percent are more fearful....
While this may just reflect Democrats' anxiety about being out of power, the poll also demonstrates a sense of optimism by Republicans. Except for a few of the never Trumpers, most Republicans have been pleasantly surprised by the accomplishments Trump has put in place in his first year in office. I think that is because Republicans are getting better at filte…

"It continues. Have seen gunships firing and heard much activity in the last few hours."...
The Iraqi claim is plausible. It is just the kind of thing that could be expected from ISIS forces. ISIS is in a desperate fight and appears willing to pull down all those around them as they lose.

Some injuries were reported and more than a dozen people were arrested after opposing sides clashed at dueling pro- and anti-Trump rallies, Berkeley, Calif., police said.
The liberals engage in projection by calling Trump supporters fascists, when it is in fact, their supporters who are sparking the violence in Califonia. There is a strain of intolerance for other points of view that is enforced by people dressed in black and their faces covered. They physically attack Trump supporters or other conservatives. These people may wear black but the are the Brownshirts of liberal fascism.